‘ <i>It’s not you it’s me</i> ’ – Exploring student barriers to employer engagement, which threaten positive graduate outcomes

Universities are under increasing pressure to justify socio-economic benefits of degrees and to achieve positive graduate outcomes. Employability and career services are integral but require student engagement, which is often sporadic, reflecting the individuality of each learner journey. Adopting a qualitative methodology this study explored factors influencing student engagement, to inform future HE employability/careers practice. Thirty-one final year undergraduates at a post-92 university were interviewed, studying vocational disciplines including pre and post-pandemic cohorts for comparison. Thematic analysis revealed that students who embraced employability opportunities achieved career gains, but all were distracted beyond academic life. Whilst the pandemic was a compounding factor this was no more prominent than family, relationships, and finances. Bourdieusian principles were evident, magnified by the vocational discipline that students were studying. Students shared psychographic characteristics and vocational habitus, whilst expressing individual dispositions, and behaviours, which were changeable, conflicting, and influenced by multi-layered structures, and fields where they were positioned. This impacted careership and self-efficacy. Disengagement with employability/careers services was prominent, indicating pastoral, academic and professional support teams must align more closely. An individualised and fluid approach is recommended, providing an effective balance between laissez-faire employability guidance and more controlled and prescriptive support for students at risk.